309, War Machine

Netflix have done it again! 

As a pretty big Alan Richardson fan, seeing him take the lead in a straight to Netflix movie always makes me smile.  Having watched him as far back as Hunger Games and even as Raphael in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Movies (as well as being a phenominal Jack Reacher of course!) means that for me, his sheer on-screen presence is very reminiscent of old Arnie movies -  but with better acting!  

War Machine is no different.  If you were to take the premise of Predator meets BattleShip you cant go far wrong - the Battleship reference?  Well, think training excercise goes awry as alien tech invades pre-planned war games and as for Predator, Man vs Machine using environment and skill to bring down said Alien foe.  It's a greast idea.

The set up is awesome too.  A fleeting initial presence from Jai Courtney as the younger brother - hell bent on convincing Richardson (as the older sibling) to apply for Army Ranger Training during a middle-eastern posting where sadly, things dont go as planned for either of them but following a tragedy, spurs on Richardson to complete his brothers dream of becoming a Ranger and as a result of the harrowing backstory - you are instantly behind Richardson, backing him 100% to succeed.

Basic Training is brutal - Richardson as the lonely soldier, distances himself from his camp mates which brings with it it's own level of trials and challenges, but see's hime stand out as the older, experienced ring leader and puts him on a pedestal that is put to the ultimate test after being thrown into the final 'Hell March' excercise, where things go badly wrong and the squad is faced with a force 'not of this world' and it takes all they have to work together and bring down this seemingly unbeatable force.

I think before you get into this - knowing it's an 'Alien / Sci-Fi' movie isn't too much of a spoiler alert.  Either way, it certainly doesn't take anything away from the realism of the whole movie.  The effects, both special and actual are outstanding.  It's a brutal and graphic war movie that as well as being visually impressive, manages to also hone in on individuals special circumstances without even giving them character names (most are referred too as their number - Richardson himself credited as '81') and this somehow manages to support the commaradory, without anything getting too personal which was cleverly written.

There are some grerat cameos as well - Jai Courtney (Suicide Squad) as mentioned before is in a very small role but does a good job - as do Dennis Quaid as Army Sgt Major Sheridan and Esai Morales (Gabriel in the more recent Mission Impossible movies) as Sgt Torres.

81's Team mates to me (and apologies to them) were all pretty unrecogniseable but I am sure have been in things I've seen but this movie really is all about Alan Richardson.  He is in every scene, has most of the dialogue and barrels through the 106 minutes with personality, emotion, dedication to the cause and a sheer unwillingness to stay down!  There are parts that certainly aren't for the faint hearted - the Alien machine itself kills without remorse and uses mostly rockets and laser guided missiles in very close proximity to exterminate it's prey - meaning the sad recipients of the brutal attacks are left in an awful mess at the end of it all.

The movie ends with the wider global impact of the invasion and does explain why the Army didn't step in to help this defenseless band of brothers and also opens up a potential story line for a sequel, but I'd be surprised if it sees the light of day.

War Machine is stand out piece of visual brilliance with some great acting and even better effects and for me, further secures Richardson as a a great leading actor - but also, following movies such as Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare & and Fast X, also shows him playing well with others and with 8 episodes of the new 'Jack Reacher' season out later this year, means we wont have to wait long to see him back at what he does best.

Who survives?  Well, I won't completely spoil the ending, but let's just say - don't get too attached to the rest of the Squad!

Enjoy!

(Images used in blog are sourced from ScriptShadow, Wikipedia, Empire, Bloody Disgusting, Flickering Myth & Hyperbeast)